Image: Mars Rover Sees Distant Crater Rims on Horizon

May 3, 2010

This image shows an outcrop of rocks at the foot of the rover and beyond these rocks rippled dunes, which are about 20 centimeters (8 inches) tall. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Cornell University

(PhysOrg.com) -- NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity has captured a new view of the rim of Endeavour crater, the rover's destination in a multi-year traverse along the sandy Martian landscape.

A portion of the rim about 13 kilometers (8 miles) away appears on the horizon at the left edge of the image, along with the rim of an even more distant crater, Iazu, on the right.

Endeavour is 21 kilometers (13 miles) in diameter, about 25 times wider than Victoria crater, the last major crater Opportunity visited. Opportunity began a marathon from Victoria to Endeavour in September 2008 after spending two years exploring Victoria.

NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity used its panoramic camera (Pancam) to capture this view of the rim of Endeavour crater, the rover's destination in a multi-year traverse along the sandy Martian landscape. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Cornell University

(PhysOrg.com) -- The Mars rover Opportunity, which has just crawled out of the 800-meter-wide (875 yards) Victoria Crater is setting out on the longest journey of its life. It will take the rover roughly two years of driving ...

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